Labor MP apologises for 'fat-shaming' Sophie Mirabella

The Labor member for the safe seat of McEwen mocked prominent Victorian Liberal Sophie Mirabella for an outfit she wore to the races and joked about someone's daughter being a "bitch", in a slew of provocative online posts made over the course of his nine-year term in office.

Long-time Labor MP Rob Mitchell used his personal Facebook page several times during his time in office to make sexually discriminatory comments, provocative comments about Australia Day and to personally attack a former senior Liberal for her appearance.

Mr Mitchell made fun of former Liberal frontbencher Sophie Mirabella for her fashion choices in a response to an image posted to Facebook in November 2016, by likening her appearance in an outfit she wore to the races to the McDonald's cartoon figure, the Hamburglar.

In the photo, Ms Mirabella is at the races wearing a black-and-white striped blazer and an ornate, hot pink feathered hat.

The original Facebook member to post the image affixed the caption, "Be safe, look left, look right and look left again ... then step in front of the fashion bus".

Under the photo, Mr Mitchell posted an image of the McDonald's Hamburglar, with the caption "Twinsies", implying that the barrister and long-serving former Indi MP resembled the corporate cartoon thief.

A raft of other users piled in on the post, mocking Ms Mirabella variously for her race-day get up, prompting some members to express concerns that the attack was sexist and was "fat-shaming" the senior Liberal.

One user, Jennifer Overend, called out participants for making fun of a woman's appearance.

"Whether we agree with their politics or not, why are we mocking women because of their attire of their physical appearance," Ms Overend wrote.

Another discussion member, Ally Ally, agreed: "Why mock anyone's appearance?" she wrote, adding "Same for fat shaming. What example does this set when we complain about society ... yet commit the same behaviour? If we truely (sic) want decency should we not also practice it?"

“I’m the last person who would fat-shame anyone. I am sorry for making this stupid post," the MP said.

The comments are likely to jar with Mr Mitchell's Victorian Labor colleagues and Premier Daniel Andrews, who is midway through a pioneering campaign intent on disrupting the spread of family violence in Victoria, by calling out poor language, casual sexism and harassment.

The Respect Women: Call it Out campaign launched in August last year aims to tackle sexism, discrimination and harassment, which is perceived as a gateway to domestic violence.

Mr Mitchell's online history from March 2012 includes other examples of derisive attitudes towards women.

In a comment made in March 2012, Mr Mitchell joked about a woman's daughter being a "bitch."

When a Facebook user who is a friend of Mr Mitchell's posted a meme reading "If you think I'm a bitch, you should meet my daughter", Mr Mitchell gave the following one-worded response: "True", he said.

The posts which were made from his personal Facebook page and between 2012 and 2017 have shown the McEwen member is unafraid of weighing in on controversial issues and engaging in deliberately provocative online behaviour.

In 2017, he uploaded an image of the map of Australia covered in an Australian flag reading, "It's Australia Day, not Racist Day".